Postpartum depressive symptomatology and associated psychosocial factors

Abstract

Background. Postpartum depressive symptomatology has a negative impact on the nuclear family. Research on this topic is scarce in Mexico, therefore conducting more studies in this field is of upmost importance. Objective. Finding out the frequency of postpartum depressive symptomatology and its associated psychosocial factors. Material and methods. 154 women at 0-12 months postpartum that attended two public hospitals in a northeast state of the Mexico were interviewed. They answered the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS), measuring depressive symptomatology, and a Psychosocial Factors questionnaire designed by the researchers. Results. 16[%] of women in the cohort presented depressive symptomatology. The factors associated were out-of-wedlock cohabitation, having relatives that suffer from depression, feelings of sadness during pregnancy, stressful life event during pregnancy, alcohol consumption during pregnancy, anxiety, current alcohol consumption, dissatisfaction regarding body changes caused by pregnancy, feeling that family attention is focused on the baby and having feelings of sadness during previous pregnancies. Conclusions. There are psychosocial factors that are associated to postpartum depressive symptomatology, which should be taken into consideration to create preventive strategies in health institutes.